Physicians Discuss the Benefits of Portrait Plasma at the American Society of Dermatological Surgery Meeting

At the American Society of Dermatological Surgery Meeting, in October, Richard Fitzpatrick, MD, and Christopher Zachary, MD, co-moderated a session that discussed the benefits of the Portrait® plasma skin regeneration system by Rhytec Inc. The physicians focused on new studies, expanded protocols, treatment of acne scars, skin tightening—especially around the eyes—and delivering CO2-like results with minimal downtime.

According to David Goldberg, MD of Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of New York & New Jersey, “The reason why this technology all of a sudden is becoming very exciting is that the whole pendulum with what we are trying to accomplish is swinging back with patients wanting to see some results. We went from laser resurfacing, which worked but had all its problems, to nonablative lunchtime procedures, which were easy to do but didn’t do much. Portrait offers different treatment options that you can match with both yours and your patient’s expectations. It can induce collagen remodeling in a very different manner than what we are used to, while at the same time, promoting skin tightening. You can reduce wrinkles, tighten skin, improve tone, texture, and pigmentation."

In a study conducted by Brian Biesman, MD, at the Nashville Center for Laser and Facial Surgery, looking at the use of high-energy plasma skin regeneration compared to blepharoplasty, patients rated their overall improvement as 64%. This clinical study laid the foundation for a further study using plasma at low-energy in multiple passes based on a technique developed by William Petri, MD, PhD, at the Center for Dermatology and Maxillofacial Surgery in Chambersburg, PA.

"I am very, very enthusiastic about the changes we are seeing…plasma treatment of the eyelid is very viable and I think a very exciting technique that can play a nice role in the aesthetic practice,” says Biesman.

Richard Fitzpatrick, MD, at the La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Center in Calif, and a pioneer in aesthetic laser procedures, reported that skin tightening and improvement in rhytides were noted in all of his patients treated with plasma and approached results seen with CO2.

In addition to its aesthetic applications, Portrait® plasma, is cleared by the FDA to treat precancerous skin lesions.